Guests

Guests

WARWICK THORNTON - Director, WORDS WITH GODS

Warwick Thornton is an award-winning Indigenous director, screenwriter and cinematographer. Born and raised in Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Warwick spent his teens working at a local radio station before pursuing his passion for film and studying cinematography at AFTRS film school in Sydney.

Warwick quickly established a strong presence in the industry creating a series of short films, focusing on contemporary Indigenous stories. His films Nana and Greenbush premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2008. With Nana winning the award for Best Short Film, Warwick has been established as an important voice in Australian cinema.
Warwick has also created dynamic television work, his series Art + Soul focused on presenting an insider’s view of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art and artists. The series created a deeper understanding of the spiritual and cultural significance Indigenous art still has in twenty-first century Australia.

Alongside the reputation Warwick has established as a director and screenwriter, he is also widely regarded for his work as a cinematographer, beginning his career working on films such as 1998’s Radiance and the critically successful SBS documentary series First Australians. In 2012 he was the cinematographer on director Wayne Blair’s hit film The Sapphires, once again highlighting Warwick’s ability to present diverse and exciting Indigenous stories.

Following the success of these films, Warwick began work on Samson and Delilah, a confronting look at the relationship between two young Aboriginal teenagers in Alice Springs. The film premiered at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival in 2009, winning the Golden Camera award. Samson and Delilah collected numerous awards including Best Film at the AFI awards, Asia Pacific Screen awards and the Film Critics Circle awards.These accolades opened doors and allowed Warwick to begin work on his next feature The Darkside, which became Warwick’s third film invited to premiere at the 2013 Berlin International Film Festival. Most recently he directed and shot the opening segment of Tim Winton’s The Turning and premiered his latest film, Words with God, at Venice in 2014.

Warwick Thornton is the Guest of Honor for DIFF 2016 OPENING NIGHT for the Australian Premiere of WORDS WITH GODS.

Damian Walshe-Howling – Director, MESSiAH

With a Film & TV career spanning over 25 years, Damian’s extensive acting experience has more recently lent itself to a love of film making, writing and directing. Damian has an impressive list of film and television credits and gained critical notoriety for his performance in UNDERBELLY, one of Australia’s highest rating television programs and the first of the highly successful Screentime produced series. His personification of Melbourne’s most loved murderer, Andrew Benji Veniamin, captured the hearts and minds of Australian audiences. With a deep passion for stories that celebrate the diversity of human experience, Damian’s work as a Writer/Director spans the breadth of film making genres from Drama to Comedy to
Documentary.

Damian’s slightly offbeat short films have enjoyed International Festival success, winning a number of awards and garnering worldwide sales, including MTV Europe. His last short SUSPENDED, which explores a childhood world of frightening magical possibility, recently finished it’s global festival run.

MESSiAH is his latest passion project and was recently shot on location in the North Eastern Kimberley, starring David Gulpilil screening at the DIFF 2016 OPENING NIGHT.

When Michael Eather left Tasmania at twenty-one years of age and followed his linguist sister to a remote Aboriginal community in the Northern Territory, he had no idea that his life would change very dramatically and forever. As a young artist on the adventure of a lifetime, Michael fell in love with Maningrida and with one woman in particular, Helen Djimbarrawala Williams. On a beautiful night in July 1985, mentored by local men, Michael mastered the art of stingray hunting. He caught six stingray in one night, surely more than a coincidence, as that was the same evening their first daughter, Noni, was brought into the world. Hence the stingray story was born. Helen gave birth to two more beautiful daughters, Alice and Grace. This story is about those daughters… the Stingray Sisters.
Now in 2016, thirty years later, Noni, Alice and Grace are an integral part of the Maningrida community. All three are leaders in their own right, living and working in the community. Battling personal issues that few of us will ever face; witnessing young people lose hope and more and more elders pass and a lifetime of knowledge pass with them, the sisters are facing their next daunting challenge. They received notice of an application to explore for oil or gas throughout Arnhem Land. They know that even with everything that’s come before this, the threat of mining will be one of the biggest and most relentless challenges the community will ever face.

The sisters believe that the impact of exploration will destroy important, historically sacred areas, along with devastating fishing grounds that the community rely on for survival. More than anything, it would destroy their home and it will destroy the person they cherish above anyone else, their mother Helen Djimbarrawala Williams. The sisters have opened their world to all of us in the hope that we, as viewers, can learn something about what it means to be a young Indigenous person in a nation where being Indigenous has never been seen for what it really is, a precious gift.

Alice, Noni and Grace Eather and Helen Djimbarrawala Williams will be guests at the DIFF 2016 screening of STINGRAY SISTERS

BEN WALSH - SOUNDTRAK (SILENCIO)

BEN WALSH is celebrated as one of Australia’s most accomplished percussionists and performers. Touring professionally as a musician and drummer since the age of 18, his musical accolades cross many styles from circus, theatre, dance, electronic music to world music. This last decade he has composed for orchestra and film through projects such as Shaun Tan’s The Arrival with Orchestra of the Underground and live electronic duo The Bird.

Ben Walsh is performing on Saturday the 17th of September as part of the SILENCIO performance.

SHENZO GREGORIO - SOUNDTRACK (SILENCIO)

SHENZO GREGORIO is a multi-award winning musician known for his work with the celebrated FOURPLAY quartet. He is currently the only stunt violinist in the world due to his love of suspending himself from heights up to 28 metres, from various famous landmarks while performing - such as the Queen Victoria Building in Sydney. Shenzo is the recipient of an ARIA Award, the Golden Fiddle Award and Best of the Adelaide Fringe Award.

Shenzo Gregorio is performing on Saturday the 17th of September as part of the SILENCIO performance.

TOBY FINlayson - Director, FIRE MUNWURRK

Co-founder of Desert Pea Media, Toby Finlayson has been working in remote indigenous communities around Australia and the world since 2003. Toby trained in Thailand with acclaimed CCD organization ‘The Makhampom Foundation’ in 2003 and completed a BA Communications in Theatre & Media in 2004. He also coordinated art programs in Sri Lankan tsunami refugee camps (2005). He has since delivered a host of indigenous media programs with Desert Pea Media and continues to direct and facilitate programs today.

Finlayson's latest production WILDFIRE MUNWURRK, which was produced with the Djelk Rangers of Maningrida, Arnhem Land is playing on Monday the 19th of September before the feature documentary Zach's Ceremony.

Jonathon Saunders - Zero Point exhibition

Jonathon Saunders is a Darwin-based Indigenous stencil artist who incorporates digital works into his art. Jonathon’s work focuses strongly on comic book and superhero iconography and re-contextualises these images within an Australian urban setting. Using both street art techniques and digital methods, Jonathon explores the themes of morality, heroism and identity. He is a visual arts graduate from Charles Darwin University, and has held several solo exhibitions, mostly in Darwin, since 2009. His most recent exhibition was TaNTtrum (2013-14) in collaboration with Koulla Roussos. Jonathon is currently adapting his comic work into a screenplay format for an animated web-series with the support of Screen Territory.

Jonathon will be exhibiting his comic, storyboard and animation work as well as launching the first limited edition print of his comic at the ZERO POINT exhibition on Wednesday the 14th of September at MAYFAIR GALLERY.

LUKAS BENDL - MATRIX DIRECTOR - IBALLDOMES

Lukas Bendel is at the forefront of of 360 video production and virtual reality experiences in the Darwin and the Top End. An early adopter of the potential of the format, Lukas built his own 360 camera using seven gopros with a 3D printed rig before custom made 360 cameras were on the market. Exploring the medium in both creative and professional avenues, Bendel has worked for the likes of Tourism NT, Charles Darwin University and real estate firms both in the Top End and overseas, who are keen to capitalise on the potential of the expanded video format.

Bendel's business iBalldome began with a large inflatable projection dome in 2011, as seen at the Nightcliff Seabreeze Festival. Lukas is also an accomplished musician, performing professionally as a drummer for the past 24 years both locally and internationally.

Bendel is the Director of the Darwin International Film Festival’s virtual reality cinema The Matrix, and coordinator of the Pop Up VR Pods.

PHILIP TARL DENSON - SCREENWRITING WORKSHOP

Philip Tarl Denson is an award winning screenwriter currently living in the remote Northern Territory community of Gunbalanya. Performing on stage as an actor and stand up comedian for many years lead Philip to try his hand at screenwriting. Philip found success with his first screenplay, LOSING STREAK, which is now under option by a US producer with a director attached. Philip’s second feature length screenplay, LUCID, has also been optioned and was recently selected for development funding from Screen Australia.

Twice nominated for an Australian Writers Guild award for an unproduced screenplay, Philip was selected to be part of the AWG Pathways program for emerging screenwriters. Philip's screenplays have garnered him several accolades including winning the 2011 NT Literary Award for Screenwriting, one of four finalists in the 2012 BlueCat screenplay competition (Joplin award), finalist in the Fresh Voices screenplay competition (1 of 5 in the science fiction category) and quarter finalist in the 2011 Nicholl Fellowship screenwriting contest. Philip has also been hired to write a screenplay for a NY based director.

Philip has recently taught screenwriting workshops for the AWG, teaching the rules of screenplay structure so that they may be broken more fully and artistically. When he isn't writing,

ROGER ESSIG - VIRTUAL REALITY VENTURES

Roger Essig has been following the latest developments in Virtual Reality and has shown thousands of people his VR artworlds and the cutting edge of consumer VR in Australia for the past 4 years.

He was hired as content creator at Virtual Reality Ventures in October 2014, and has helped produce many corporate and commercial immersive experiences and also spent two weeks on country in East Arnhemland, helping to document the songline of people from around that area.

Mikaela Jade is an Aboriginal woman from the Cabrogal People and CEO of Indigital, an ethical digital agency based in Jabiru Northern Territory. Mikaela designs and delivers disruptive digital technology products for shared profit and purpose. A key tenet of her company is "work together - learn together - earn together". Specifically she has been working with Bininj/Mungguy on drone and augmented reality initiatives in Kakadu World Heritage Area.

Mikaela works with Indigenous Peoples across the world through Indigital and NGOs such as the United Nations Development Program, Tribal Link Foundation and the Equator Initiative where she provides digital advice and services to the world's most remote Indigenous communities in accordance with the United Nations Declarations on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Through principles of self-determination, and free, prior and informed consent Mikaela's goal is to ensure that Indigenous peoples have access to safe, affordable, quality digital engagement that is appropriate to their social and cultural needs. Mikaela also works in partnership with Indigenous Peoples to develop a financially sustainable digital sector to improve intergenerational knowledge transfer and economic opportunities for Indigenous peoples in the digital economy.

ALex Kelly will be teaching a workshop on IMPACT PRODUCING as part of the DIFF FILM SCHOOL on Sunday the 18th of September.

MIKE HOLLIGAN - POTT STREET PICTURES

Originally from the Northern Territory, Mike Holligan has been making movies since 2005. He now lives in Brisbane, where his company Pott Street Pictures is based.

Starting fresh out of film school with his 20 minute zombie short “Regression”, he has progressed to new heights with each project, culminating in his most recent film, [insert title], a science fiction epic about a squad of US Marines fighting in a war against invading aliens in the South Pacific. Represented by Los Angeles-based sales agency High Octane Films, PACIFIC THEATRE already has high profile distributors vying for it ahead of the American Film Market in November.

Mike Holligan will be teaching the VFX MASTERCLASS as part of the DIFF FILM SCHOOL workshop series on Sunday the 18th of September.

DAVID BATTY - REBEL FILMS

Batty’s career spans 34 years of writing, producing, directing and shooting documentary throughout most parts of Australia and PNG. David’s love for the bush and remote Australia has provided an array of great characters and a rich palette to ply his storytelling skills. His films display empathy and rapport derived from deep trust and local knowledge. With seven TV series, five one hours and over two hundred short form docs David’s films entertain, and give insight into rarefied worlds.
Based in Alice Springs for 13 years, then Broome for 12 years and now living between his studio in Melbourne and his property on the South Coast of NSW, Batty has a long and distinguished history of making programs with and for Aboriginal people. His filmmaking career began around 1982 in Alice Springs where he established the TV production unit at CAAMA (Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association).
Batty is well known for his hit television series, “Bush Mechanics” which reached an audience of over three million viewers. Recent projects include directing “Coniston”, the story of Australia’s last massacre of Aboriginal People in Central Australia and the Web Series “Black As”, which tracks four young men and their wild adventures across Arnhem Land.

David Batty will be speaking at the Multi-Platform Storytelling workshop as part of the NT Screen Industry Summit on Saturday the 24th of September.

TIMOTHY PARISH - UNDERGROWTH PRODUCTIONS

Timothy Parish is the Director of the Darwin International Film Festival. A Darwin based writer, director and independent producer, Parish works across documentary, narrative filmmaking and theatre. Parish began his studies in Fine Arts at Charles Darwin University before completing a Bachelor of Media Arts from RMIT University in 2005.

In 2006, Parish founded Verb Studios, an independent production company through which he has created long and short form documentaries, music videos, live audiovisual performances. Parish is also co-founder and Artistic Director at Undergrowth Productions, a multi-arts organisation which has published numerous anthologies, held group art exhibitions and organised the Transitions Film Festival, Australia's largest environmental film festival which he is the National Director of since 2012.

Timothy Parish will be speaking at the Multi-Platform Storytelling workshop as part of the NT Screen Industry Summit on Saturday the 24th of September.

Elizabeth Povinelli (Karrabing Project)

Elizabeth Povinelli is Franz Boas Professor of Anthropology and Gender Studies at Columbia University where she has also been the Director of the Institute for Research on Women and Gender and the Co-Director of the Centre for the Study of Law and Culture.[1] She received her Ph.D. in Anthropology from Yale University in 1991.[2] She is the author of numerous books and essays as well as a former editor of the academic journal Public Culture.

Povinelli's short films productions include, 'Karrabing, Low Tide Turning' was selected for the 2012 Berlinale International Film Festival, 'When the Dogs Talked' and 'Windjarrameru, The Stealing C*nt$' which premiered at the 2015 Melbourne International Film Festival.

Povinelli and the Karrabing Indigenous Corporation received the MIFF 2015 Cinema Nova Award for Best Short Fiction Film for When the Dogs Talked. Povinelli is one of the founding members of the Karrabing Film Collective, the recipient of the 2015 Visible Award. She was the recipient of the German Transatlantic Program Prize and Fellow at the American Academy in Berlin for Fall 2011.

Elizabeth Povinelli will be speaking at the Multi-Platform Storytelling workshop as part of the NT Screen Industry Summit on Saturday the 24th of September.

LIZ STEVENS - SCREEN AUSTRALIA

Liz Stevens runs Screen Australia’s documentary unit and has been in this role for about 8 years. As the senior manager Liz is responsible for the documentary slate, programs, initiatives and strategy and is part of Screen Australia’s senior leadership team. Prior to the creation of Screen Australia, Liz was a Business Affairs Manager at Film Australia. With a background as an independent producer, Liz has worked with script development, film finance, production, marketing and distribution on both factual and drama projects.

Liz Stevens is Senior Manager of Documentary at Screen Australia and will be speaking at NT Screen Industry Summit about the SCREEN AUSTRALIA DOCUMENTARY on Saturday the 24th of September. She will also be present at the PITCH PERFECT and INDUSTRY ONE-ON-ONES private meetings on Sunday the 25th of September.

Miranda Culley - SCREEN AUSTRALIA

Miranda Culley has over 25 years experience in the film industry working in both private and government sectors across development, financing, production and post-production. Miranda joined Screen Australia as Investment Manager, Documentary in July 2016.

Miranda was one of the first industry consultants to work with the F.F.C on the implementation of the Producer Offset in 2007 and has continued to work as an Independent Consultant to Screen Australia's Producer Offset and Coproduction Unit.

Her production credits include associate producer on Working Title’s Catch A Fire directed by Phillip Noyce and starring Tim Robbins, producer of the one-hour documentary Boxing For Palm Island for ABC which opened the 2010 Message Sticks Festival; co-producer of Shirley Barrett’s South Solitary which opened the 2010 Sydney Film Festival and co-producer of Josh Lawson’s 2014 directing debut The Little Death.

Most recently Miranda was VFX Producer on Mel Gibson's Hacksaw Ridge which premiered at Venice Film Festival 2016.

Miranda Culley is the Investment Development Manager, Documentary at Screen Australia and will be speaking at NT Screen Industry Summit about the SCREEN AUSTRALIA DOCUMENTARY on Saturday the 24th of September. She will also be present at the PITCH PERFECT and INDUSTRY ONE-ON-ONES private meetings on Sunday the 25th of September.

EMMA MASTERS - WEAVE FILMS

Emma Masters is a filmmaker and journalist with more than 20 years experience in media and communications in Australia and overseas. Based in the Northern Territory, Emma runs a boutique production company Weave Films dedicated to film, television and multiplatform storytelling.
weavefilms.com

Emma Masters is a journalist turned filmmaker with more than 20 years experience in media and communications in Australia and overseas. Her dedication and commitment to story telling is evident in the body of work she has produced as a filmmaker and journalist in the Northern Territory, a television program producer and presenter in Southeast Asia and a multimedia producer, writer and teacher in Adelaide.

Emma makes her own films but also enjoys collaborating with other filmmakers on their projects. She was the national recipient of the 2015 Australian International Documentary Conference Access producers program, where she participated in a series of workshops and was awarded an internship with global television production giant Endemol. Emma was also a recipient of a Screen Territory / Screen Australia Realistor pitch award and received a mentorship and funding to develop two documentaries with Australian Executive Producer Alison Black.

Emma is a respected journalist and freelances when time permits. She produces short videos for BBC Online, recently worked as Cross Media Reporter for ABC and she has also filed live reports for Seven Sunrise. Previous to her work in film Emma was a full-time television and radio reporter for ABC News in Darwin.

Emma also works in media and international development across the Asia Pacific region. She has been a journalist, producer and presenter for Vietnam Television and Vietnam News Agency. Her experience in international development includes working with the United Nations on sports education in Indonesia, the CSIRO to deliver science training for journalists in East Timor, and an AusAID-funded posting with a Vietnamese NGO focused on coastal communities in Vietnam.

Emma Masters will be speaking on the PAST/PRESENT/FUTURE TERRITORY panel as part of the NT Screen Industry Summit on Saturday the 24th of September.

Nicolas Lee, Executive Producer, CAAMA Productions

Nick has spent over 30 years working in film and television. Through the 80’s and 90’s, he gained extensive experience as a TV factual, documentary, feature film and TV drama editor - periodically producing and directing along the way. He turned to producing full-time in 2004. Since then he has series produced more than 100 hours of factual TV and for 5 years was Executive Producer of ABC TV’s science program, Catalyst.

Nick worked at CAAMA in Alice Springs for 7 years in the 90’s editing several well regarded documentaries and short dramas. In 1993/94 he series produced the magazine program Aboriginal Australia. Nick has always maintained his links to the Northern Territory and in 2012 he returned to CAAMA to take up the position of Executive Producer of CAAMA Productions. The last 4 years have seen CAAMA Productions deliver numerous government videos, a solid body of broadcast documentaries, documentary series, short dramas and short documentaries.

Nick is committed to maintaining CAAMA’s strong presence and reputation in Australia and around the world through the development and production of documentaries and drama. He believes the development of emerging Indigenous talent is central to achieving that aim.

Nicolas Lee will be speaking on the PAST/PRESENT/FUTURE TERRITORY panel as part of the NT Screen Industry Summit on Saturday the 24th of September.

RACHEL CLEMENTS - BRINDLE FILMS

Rachel Clements and Trisha Morton-Thomas are the founders of Brindle Films, recipients of the 2015 SPA Breakthrough Business Award and recent Screen Australia Enterprise funding.

Rachel wrote/produced her first short film Flasher in 1996, winning Most Popular Film at the Queensland New Filmmaker Awards. She moved to London where she worked for Miramax and MTV. She graduated from AFTRS in 2001 with an MA in Producing, winning the inaugural FFC Creative Producer Award. From 2001-2004, Rachel produced award winning short films including Tree (Sundance, Screen NSW) and Soul Mates (IF Awards nomination, AFC).

Rachel has executive produced documentaries commissioned by ABC and NITV, including Urrpeye (Messenger), NITV’s launch documentary. Still based in Alice, Rachel recently produced the documentary Blown Away (ABC, 2014), and the first Aboriginal narrative comedy series 8MMM Aboriginal Radio (ABC, 2015).

Rachel Clements will be speaking on the PAST/PRESENT/FUTURE TERRITORY panel as part of the NT Screen Industry Summit on Saturday the 24th of September. She will also be speaking on the panel of the SCREEN INDUSTRY FORUM as part of the NT Screen Industry Summit on Saturday the 24th of September.

DANIELLE MACLEAN - TAMARIND TREE PICTURES

Danielle MacLean worked at CAAMA Productions for over six years: first as a production assistant and then as a writer/director.
While at CAAMA she spent considerable time in Central Australia on a documentary series called Nganampa Anwernekenhe, produced in Aboriginal language which was shot in the bush communities and broadcast on Imparja Television.
In 2001 Danielle wrote and directed For Who I am – Bonita Mabo a half hour documentary which screen as part of the Everyday Brave Series.
Danielle has also written and directed a short drama My Colour Your Kind, which screened at numerous international film festivals, and for which she was nominated for an AFI Award and a Film Critics of Australia Award. Danielle wrote and directed her 50 minute drama Queen of Hearts in 2003 which earned her an AFI for best screen play in a non- feature. She also earned an AWGIE award in 2007 for her script in Ch 9 children’s series Double Trouble.

In more recent years she has written for Redfern Now (ABC TV) and Croker Island Exodus. In 2014 she wrote and directed Blown Away a documentary about Cyclone Tracy for ABC TV.

Danielle MacLean will be speaking on the PAST/PRESENT/FUTURE TERRITORY panel as part of the NT Screen Industry Summit on Saturday the 24th of September.

Stephen Johnson - High Ground Pictures

Stephen Johnson is a multi award winning director, he was raised in the Territory and established Burrundi Pictures in Darwin in 1989. Burrundi set a benchmark for film production in the NT and incorporated the Territories first narrow cast television station, Darwin InfoTV. Stephen created all the formative Yothu Yindi video clips, including the iconic “Treaty” clip, as well as the seminal Arnhem Land set feature film “Yolgnu Boy”.

Stephen has been planning and developing the action/thriller 'High Ground' for over ten years. 'High Ground' will go into production in Western Arnhem Land in 2017 and stars Guy Pearce, Jack Thompson, David Gulpilil and Sean Mununggurr.

Stephen Johnson will be speaking on the PAST/PRESENT/FUTURE TERRITORY panel as part of the NT Screen Industry Summit on Saturday the 24th of September.

Meredith Garlick - Thomas Street Productions

Meredith Garlick is a producer, writer and senior executive, with over 20 years in the film and television industry. Her career is marked by depth in international production, and bringing stories to rich life.

Garlick has produced the feature-length films 'The Secret of Moonacre', a children’s fantasy-adventure starring Dakota Blue Richards and Tim Curry, and 'The Underdog’s Tale', an Australian romantic-comedy.

Heading up development and production in screen agencies, Meredith has invested in 100s of hours of film, television and documentaries of all formats and genres. She has contributed to national policy debates as a guild representative and board member of sector organisations, and written arts and cultural and screen policies for various governments.

Tommy Lewis - Actor

Tommy Lewis is the official host of the Capricornia Film Awards 2016.

Tommy Lewis (sometimes credited as Tom E. Lewis) was born in Ngukurr (Roper River), Northern Territory, Australia on 25th August 1958. His first major role was the title role in the 1978 Fred Schepisi film The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith which was the first Australian film to compete at the Cannes Film Festival. Lewis won the Best New Talent award at 1978’s Australian Film & TV Awards. In 1981 he appeared in the TV mini-series A Town Like Alice opposite Helen Morse and Bryan Brown, and has worked steadily in Australian film and television since.

In 2005, Lewis was awarded the Bob Maza Fellowship by the Australian Film Commission for co-writing the film Yellow Fella, a documentary about his experiences as a man of mixed-race.

In December the following year he received the Australia Council Red Ochre award, which is given to an indigenous artist who has made outstanding contributions to the recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts, at both national and international levels, throughout their lifetime.
Lewis now lives in the remote town of Beswick in South Arnhem Land with his partner Fleur Parry and their family. Since moving there in 2001 he has established the Djilpin Arts Aboriginal Corporation, a cultural organization which stages the annual ‘Walking with the Spirits’ festival.

He continues to act in theatre and film productions regularly. Most recently he eprformed in The Shadow King - an indigenous reworking of Shakespeare's King Lear.

Andrew Hyde - Exposure Productions

Andrew Hyde grew up in the Northern Territory and has worked in the screen industry as a cinematographer for the past 25 years. He has operated Darwin’s longest running independent production company, Exposure Productions, since 1999, which produces on average some 5 hours of screen content per year for commercial and corporate clients.

Andrew’s broadcast documentary credits include In the Lair of the Mega Croc (Animal Planet), Dahkiya Vs the King (ABC) and In a League of their Own (ABC) and his broadcast credits include 60 Minutes, Australian Story and Grand Designs.

As a Director/Producer Andrew has developed projects including the 6 part series The Love Shack for Channel Seven/Southern Cross & the documentary Bright Horizons for the Nine Network.

Andrew serves on the national executive of the Australian Cinematographers Society and is its Northern Territory branch president. Andrew has twice received ministerial appointments as a member of the steering committee for the 2010/11 Screen Visioning Project and as a member of the 2015/16 Ministerial Advisory Council for screen.

Andrew traveled to France and Belgium in 2015 as the cinematographer on the documentary the Borella Ride, which was the Northern Territory’s premier Centenary of World War 1 event. Andrew currently has a number of projects in development working with various producers including Rachel Clements, Meredith Garlick, Karen Martin-Stone and Ian Richards.

Andrew Hyde will be speaking on the panel of the SCREEN INDUSTRY FORUM as part of the NT Screen Industry Summit on Saturday the 24th of September.

Martin Brown - Australian Film Television & Radio School

Martin Brown joined AFTRS in 2011, as the Head of AFTRS OPEN working on diverse training for industry and beyond spanning radio, film and TV. Martin was then appointed Director of Specialist Programs at AFTRS in late 2013 and in 2016 was appointed Director of the Award Course Division.

Starting in live theatre, he has managed literally hundreds of live shows and events. Martin has produced television commercials and music videos and feature films as an art director, most notably on Baz Luhrmann's Strictly Ballroom.

Martin produced/co-produced a number of Baz Luhrmann feature films including: William Shakespeare's Romeo+Juliet and Moulin Rouge, which went on to win the Golden Globe for Best Musical or Comedy of 2001 and was nominated for eight Academy Awards including: Best Picture (winning two for Costume Design and Art Direction). Martin was awarded the Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Producer of the Year in 2001 by the Producers' Guild of America for his work on Moulin Rouge.

He is the founder of Martin Brown Films, a company devoted to developing and producing films for the international market. The company also provides production services to international film projects seeking to shoot in Australia and worldwide.
Martin has also has served on the board of Screen Tasmania and has been engaged by the Australian Film Commission, The New South Wales Film and Television Office and The Australian Writers' Guild as a reader and consultant.